


Truth

by Mega_Erofan



Category: Shin Sangokumusou | Dynasty Warriors
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Closeted Character, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Homophobia, M/M, Male Slash, Mention of Underage Sex, Past Friendship, Romance, Underage Drinking, but it's implied, in a single sitting no less, it's not graphic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-08-26
Updated: 2015-08-26
Packaged: 2018-04-17 05:32:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,432
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4654215
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mega_Erofan/pseuds/Mega_Erofan
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Zhang Liao knows the truth behind Lu Bu’s hate for Cao Cao and decides to finally settle the issue with the help of his boyfriend by locking the two in a room together in order to work out the problem. Is this a big mistake on Liao’s part or will this four year long conflict finally come to an end?</p>
            </blockquote>





	Truth

**Author's Note:**

> A semi-sequel to Psuedo PDA
> 
> Edited September 5th, 2015  
> *Minor grammatical fixes  
> *Minor revision of some passages and dialouge

“Are you sure about this, Liao?”

“Yes, I’m sure, Dun.” Liao sighs into the receiver of the phone wedged between his cheek and shoulder as he moves a box full of trinkets across in his small room. “You know as well as I do that this is the only way the two of them are ever going to talk about this. They won’t do it at school because they have public images to uphold and neither of them, especially your cousin, is willing to put that into jeopardy. They don’t have a nerve or patience to meet elsewhere to talk about this, so this is the only option really. If they can’t be men and talk about it willingly on their own terms, we’ll treat them like kids and put them in time out until they can resolve their problems.”

“You know they won’t like the idea once they realize what’s going on.”

“It doesn’t matter if they like it. I’m not doing this to satisfy either of them, I’m doing it for the good of their futures.” Liao explains as he sets the box in his closet. “If they can’t put aside this feud before they graduate next month, then they never will and we both know this could never end well for either one of them. This needs to be handled before it goes any further out of control” he sits on the edge of his bed and shifts the phone to his other ear “and I need your cooperation for this to work, Dun. I can get Lu Bu here without any question but you recall the situation between your cousin and me.”

“After our last confrontation, I’m not sure he’ll be very willing to let me take him anywhere really.” Dun explains. “How can you be sure he’ll even go along with this? Lu Bu has never questioned you because you’re such good friends, you have been since middle school, but he’s a different story. He’s never been too trusting of anyone even his own family.”

“He’ll trust you, Dun. Family forgives at lot quicker than friends do, I know that personally.” Liao says. “Just make sure you can get him over here by seven tonight, okay? My parents will only be out of town this one weekend and I’m not missing this opportunity to finally fix this mess.”

“Alright, I’ll see you tonight then.” Dun sighs.

“See you then.” Liao hangs up the phone and lies back on his bed in relief. “I really hope this isn’t a big mistake on my part but this needs to be done.” He hears a knock from the other end of the house and glances at his clock nearby, finding it reading 6:16. “That must be Lu Bu,” he stands from the bed then quickly exits the room to the hall “I better get him in here then. We got a lot to set up.” He swiftly walks down the hall and across the living room to the front door and opens it, finding Lu Bu with a duffel bag hanging from his shoulder. “You got here quicker than I expected.” Liao chuckles as he lets the other in.

“How can I pass up spending the weekend with my best friend when his parents are out of town for once and trust him completely to run the house?” Lu Bu chuckles as he sets his bag on the couch. “I’m saying now that you won’t be getting any sleep these next few nights as far as I’m concerned.”

“Let me guess: video games, movie binging, and so much junk food we might gain a few pounds by Monday.” Liao states with soft laughter.

“You bet.” Lu Bu bumps his legs against the arm of the couch plops onto it gracelessly. “Is Dun going to be joining us as well or is it just the two of us?”

“It will be the _four_ of us actually.” Liao corrects. “Dun is bringing someone along as a funny way of forming a double date for the weekend. Don’t mind, do you?”

“Nah, I’ll need someone to play with while you disappear with Dun to make out in your room.” Lu Bu snickers, causing Liao to blush and glare at him. “Relax, I’m just joking, Liao. The more the merrier, I say.”

“Cool cause their on the way as we speak, so we’ll need to make room for all of us.” Liao states. “Mind helping me clean up and set up?”

Lu Bu shrugs and stands from the couch, half-heartedly saluting his smaller friend. “I’m at your command, sir.”

Liao simply rolls his eyes and the two begin moving stuff around to give extra space including pushing the couch and chairs to the edges of the living area, moving the large coffee table into a back room, and laying out some comforters, pillows and blankets on the floor, chairs, and couch. They are mostly done setting up when there is a knock at the door.

“That must be Dun and his friend.” Liao says then turns to Lu Bu. “You wanna go put your bag back in my room for right now? He doesn’t know you’re here and I want it to be a surprise for him more or less.”

“Consider me a ghost then.” Lu Bu quietly snickers as he plucks his bag off the couch and swiftly disappears into the back hallway with a joking ghostly moan. Liao simply shakes his head with a partially amused smirk, knowing his friend could be such a dork at times.

Once Lu Bu is in the bedroom, Liao walks over and opens the front door to find Dun and Cao. “Glad you two could make it.” He chuckles as he lets the two in.

“I wouldn’t miss spending a weekend with my little geek.” Dun chuckles then pecks Liao between his eyes. “I’m just surprised you wanted Cao Cao to join us after everything.”

“That’s my mother’s philosophy of forgive and forget.” Liao states. “We’re all mature guys here, so this had to happen eventually.” He then turns to Cao Cao, noticing him carrying his and Dun’s bags. “I’m just glad you were willing to come along, Cao,” the older boy simply shrugs in response, not willing to look the other in the eye “but let’s get those somewhere out of the way for right now until we get ready to settle in for the night. Follow me.” Cao hesitantly follows Liao down the back hall to the boy’s bedroom. “Just set them down in here wherever you like.”

Cao simply shrugs and enters the room as Liao opens the door and only stops when he bumps into someone after Liao closes the door. He drops the bags and looks up, surprised to find Lu Bu standing before him and jumps away. “What are you doing here?” He asks.

“I should be asking you the same thing, Cao Cao.” Lu Bu growls. “I can only assume your cousin brought you.”

“Yeah, only cause Liao wanted him to for whatever reason.” Cao mutters with a roll of his eyes. “Evidently he wants to forgive me for my treatment of him the past few years and start over.”

“Why am I not surprised?” Lu Bu sighs as he runs a hand through his hair. “He’s too naïve for his own good. I’m gonna need to bop him on the head for this.” He walks past Cao and tries to open the door, only to find it locked and growls under his breath. “God damn it.”

“He locked us in here, didn’t he?” Cao inquires and Lu Bu simply nods. “Wonderful, I’m stuck in a room with someone who absolutely hates my guts.”

“Don’t act like you’re the victim here, you spoiled brat.” Lu Bu snaps. “You’re a lot better off than most of our classmates, so don’t even try to pull that shit around me.”

“Or so you say.” Cao murmurs as he walks to Liao’s bed and sits on the edge, refusing to look at Lu Bu. “Just because we’re classmates doesn’t mean you know me that well.”

“So you’ve forgotten already that we were best friends since First Grade?” Lu Bu irately asks as he turns to the other. Cao refuses to answer and Lu Bu huffs. “I guess your dad’s money has gone to your head too. You used to be like the rest of us as kids, running around and getting involved in trouble all the time and not caring what the consequence was. Now you hardly acknowledge that part of your life, treating it like it makes you some kind of black sheep to your family all because of the high reputation your sudden wealth gave you.”

“Are those the only reasons you hate me so blindly?” Cao’s question seems to only cause the tension in the room to rise but Lu Bu turns his back to the other, not wanting the other to see him as he thinks back to the day this hatred started between the two of them.

Lu Bu and Cao Cao had been invited to a party by one of Cao’s older cousins. They two were just finishing eighth grade and Cao Cao’s cousin was a high school student, a junior if he recalled correctly. They didn’t think anything of it and went, thinking they would start making impressions on their eventual older classmates. They each made an excuse that one was heading to the other’s house for the night and their parents were fairly satisfied with the situation. With it being a high school party, alcohol played a key role in all that happened that night including the eventual split in their friendship after the events of said night. The two had a few cups of drink early in the night and became separated at some point during the festivities. Cao Cao began to feel tired, so his cousin told him to go sleep it off in his bedroom but he found Lu Bu in there already. Not wanting to spook his friend, Cao decided to wake the other.

“Well, if it isn’t Cao.” Lu Bu chuckles dizzily, his face red from what may have been one too many drinks tonight. “I figured you’d come looking for me.” He hiccups, causing him to bounce slightly on the bed. “Enjoying the evening?” Cao simply shrugs then is surprised by the leg that bumps his side and looks back down at his friend. “Why not lay down for a bit and relax?”

“I am starting to get a bit dizzy anyway.” Cao sighs then moves to lie down but ends up tripping and falling on top of Lu Bu. He only then realizes that the other is not wearing his shirt or jacket and he blushes in embarrassment. Too tired and inebriated to move, Cao simply looks up at Lu Bu from his chest as the other laughs.

“You weren’t wrong about that. You kinda missed the softer part of the bed, buddy.” Cao blushes and glances away, softly murmuring an apology. “It’s fine. I’m not complaining. Guess neither of us are big drinkers right now. Give it some time.”

Cao looks back and finds himself glued to the dark brown eyes looking at him, almost in a trance of some sort. He always had this small curiosity in the back of his mind despite his family history and values. If his father even knew about this sliver of curiosity in him, the man would disown him in a heartbeat but the four cups of beer he had before made him forget this small fact for just a moment. He moves closer to Lu Bu’s face and pecks the other on the lips, causing the taller boy to flush even redder than he was from the alcohol.

“W-what was that for?” Lu Bu asks, seeming surprised but very calm. Cao Cao thought he would flip out or push him away but maybe this was a good sign.

“You mean you’ve never been curious about kissing a guy before?” Cao chuckles as he rests his chin on the other’s chest. “Not even once?”

“It’s not that, I just…” Lu Bu stutters then shakes his head “I thought your dad…”

“Dad’s not here right now, is he?” Cao inquires as he slowly settles on top of the other, practically straddling him by this point

“N-no…”

“Then don’t worry about him right now, Lu Bu.” Cao chuckles as he nuzzles into his neck. “We’ll be in high school ourselves in a few months. Let yourself loose for once, see what it’s like. This won’t be our last party like this, so why hold back?” Lu Bu smirks then sloppily kisses Cao, who returns the kiss and eagerly nips on the other’s bottom lip during the contact. The two eventually pull apart in need of air and Cao grins as he pulls his shirt off and tosses it aside. “That’s what I’m talking about.

The rest of the night is somewhat a blur to Lu Bu aside from a few graphic details he recalls in bits and pieces but he was sure of one thing: he went to the party a virgin but he didn’t leave as one. He remembers waking up beside Cao Cao completely nude and vulnerable and didn’t understand what had happened until later that same day. That morning was the last time Lu Bu saw Cao Cao when he walked the other home, promising to himself to never speak about that night until the other was ready to talk about it. He never was. A few weeks later, one of Cao Cao’s older uncles dies and his family sudden jumped up on the class chain to a higher level of society. When they started their freshman year, Lu Bu was hurt to learn that Cao’s father had rubbed off on him over the remainder of the summer and expressed a great dislike for male relationships. That was when this entire feud began but Lu Bu never had the will to blackmail the other to his peers. He could be mean and a bit pushy at times but he wasn’t heartless, not like Cao Cao had become over the years.

“Or is it because I was such a hypocrite before?”

The tone in Cao’s voice had changed suddenly and it is quite obvious to Lu Bu. He isn’t pompous or overbearing like he normally is, he sounds heartbroken. Lu Bu turns to the other to find him holding his face in his hands, his shoulders slumped, and his body shaking, like the other was about to cry. Ignoring his better judgment, Lu Bu rushes to the Cao’s side, sitting on the bed beside him and instinctively embracing him. They may not be close friends anymore but it still hurts him to see Cao so distressed, it’s not like him.

“It’s not like I really had a choice in all of this, Lu Bu.” The statement surprises Lu Bu and he forces the smaller man to look at him, feeling some of his heartstrings being tugged violently when he sees tears building in those dark eyes. He hasn’t seen him sincerely cry in so long that the scene before him feels so foreign, so why is he crying now?

“What do you mean?”

“I never realized how close we were to one another until that night and it scared me to the point where I was avoiding you to try and figure it out for myself.” Cao Cao murmurs. “I thought it was just a moment of weakness from the drinks that night but the more I thought about it, the more I realized how sincere the feelings were. I’ve been with several girls between then and now and none of them stirred those feelings I had for you that night. I only realized much too late what it was. If I were anyone else, I would’ve been thrilled but…”

Lu Bu’s arms tighten around Cao, understanding the issue now. “Your father…”

“After what he did to two of my brothers over similar issues, I was afraid of the same happening to me if I even mentioned it. I didn’t want to hurt you the way I did but I couldn’t risk my father finding out. I was terrified with the idea of losing my family.” Cao is pulled against the other and buries his face into the broad shoulder as he sniffles then tightly grabs the other’s shirt as he begins to sob, gently being comforted by Lu Bu. “I-I never wanted you t-to hate me. I thought yo-you’d understand after what happened t-to De.” He softly stammers between sobs. “T-there were so many times I wanted to say I-I was sorry but y-you didn’t want to even sp-speak to me.”

Lu Bu’s insides clench painfully at the words, realizing this was as much his fault as it was Cao’s. The other tried to speak to him on several occasions in the past but he always blew him off and was none too kind about it. He let his anger and heartache cloud his judgment so much that he never thought about listening to his former friend’s side of the story. He wasn’t willing to learn or understand why this sudden change occurred that hurt him so much, part of him didn’t even want to know. He remembered one of the last times Cao willingly approached him to speak to him and the guilt he felt only grew at the memory.

Lu Bu was hanging around after school simply wandering the halls and waiting for Liao, who was a freshman at the time, to find him so they could ride home together after his club meeting. He didn’t mind it too much as he had meetings after school anyway with clubs of his own. He could entertain himself for an extra half hour while he waited for his dearest friend since middle school to wrap things up. He was mindlessly roaming through the halls, messing with something in his hands, when he was approached by Cao Cao. He heard the other and looked up, giving him a rather venomous glare as he walked up to him.

“Well, I’m surprised to find you here, Cao Cao.” Lu Bu grumbles, crossing his arms as he looks the other over. Cao is a head shorter than him, he always had been since middle school, and wearing his signature black leather jacket with his family’s name embroidered on the left side, placed about where his heart would be if he had one. He always dressed so classy after the inheritance his family got, mostly to show off his wealth to his peers. The young man had always been very prideful of his looks and status. “What do you want?”

“I’ve been looking for you, Lu Bu.” Cao states with a small smile that made Lu Bu burn with anger. “There’s something we need to talk about.”

“I thought I told you already that I wasn’t interested in speaking to you.” Lu Bu sharply remarks. “After the clear stand you took freshman year, I figured you’d be trying to avoid me more than anything.”

“That’s what I’m here to discuss actually.” Cao sighs.

“And by discuss you mean elaborate on the same point?”

Cao seems to be surprised by the sharp comeback or he looks like he is at least. “You seem a bit more cynical than I remember you being when we were younger. Whatever happened to the Lu Bu from our middle school years?”

That one little comment made something snap in the back of Lu Bu’s mind as he suddenly grabs Cao Cao by his jacket and roughly pins him against the lockers nearby, eyes burning with anger as he glares directly into the other’s nearly black eyes. “He died along with my heart after your damn proclamation about orientation, you arrogant asshole!” He growls, his grip tightening on the jacket. Cao’s eyes seem to reflect genuine fear as they look back into Lu Bu’s intense gaze. “You don’t seem to get that being such a hypocrite is going to earn you some enemies, Cao. Trust me, you got your point across back in our freshman year and I can’t believe I ever considered you my best friend!” He throws Cao to the ground and turns then walks way as tears begin to spill, not seeing Cao Cao beginning to cry as well. “Do both of us a favor and leave me alone, you bastard!”

“I…I’m so sorry.” Lu Bu whispers as he tightly hugs Cao. “I was so upset about everything that I never thought about the whys behind your words. You were struggling just as much as I was and I didn’t make things any better for you. It never occurred to me to ask you because I was so heartbroken by it all. I felt betrayed.”

“Then why didn’t you expose me?” Lu Bu looks down at the other in surprise as the smaller male looks up. “You had the motive and the means and you’ve never given a care about what others thought of you, so throwing yourself into it would have made no difference to you. Why didn’t you just tell everyone how much of a hypocrite I was?”

“Because I promised myself I would never sink that low.” Lu Bu murmurs then leans down to touch his brow against Cao’s. “After that night at the party, I promised that I wouldn’t speak a word about anything that happened until you were ready to talk about it. It didn’t matter how bad you hurt me with your words or how heartbroken I was, I wasn’t going to break that promise and ruin your life because of something so ridiculous.”

“Lu Bu…”

Cao leans up and softly kisses Lu Bu and the other returns the gesture, wrapping his arms around Cao’s neck and laying back on the bed, pulling the other down with him. Cao carefully straddles Lu Bu and lets his hands wander down the other’s chest and sides and back up again, finger tracing along every muscle that could be felt through the other’s thin shirt. The large hands that gently grab his hips are soothing for the smaller boy, anchoring him to reality and protecting him from the fears that seem like distant storms now. After a few minutes, the two pull apart for air and Cao nuzzles into Lu Bu’s neck. They remain like this for a few moments in warm silence until Cao speaks up.

“Lu Bu...” The larger male hums in response and Cao shifts onto Lu Bu’s chest to look into the other in the eyes. “Do you think we can…start over?”

“You mean…” Cao nods. “What about your father?” Cao sadly looks away but looks back when he feels a hand on his cheek and a thumb wipe away a tear. “Never mind, we’ll take care of that when we get to it” he gently pecks the other on the lips “but I’d be happy to give us a chance, Cao.”

“Are you two done killing each other ye…what the hell?!” The two turn to the door and find Xiahou Dun standing in the door way, looking very bewildered as Zhang Liao quietly giggles behind him in the hall.

“I told you I should’ve entered first.” Liao says and slips past Dun into the room, happily surprised by what he sees. “I see you two managed to solve your differences…and then some?”

“Yeah,” Lu Bu sighs as he and Cao Cao sit up “I guess I owe you one, Liao.”

“You owe me nothing, Lu Bu.” Liao states. “I’m just glad you two won’t be fighting anymore.” He turns and walks over to the still shocked Dun and hugs him. “Are you really that surprised by this, sweetheart?”

“I knew you wanted them to talk out their problems but I just walked in on my cousin straddling your best friend.” Dun groans as he pinches the bridge of his nose. “I half expected one of them to have murdered the other and us walking in on them trying to hide the body to be honest.”

Liao sighs and shakes his head then looks back at the two. “Are we good to go then?” Lu Bu nods and stands after Cao Cao climbs off him then approaches the two. “Great because we managed to finish getting everything together, so this weekend can officially begin. I just hope the couch can fit the both of you. If not, the guest room is open for use if you need it.”

“We’ll manage.” Cao sighs as he walks up to Lu Bu and hugs him from behind, causing Liao to giggle.

“The fact he’s shorter than you makes this a bit funny, Lu Bu.” Liao says.

“He’s always been shorter than me” Lu Bu murmurs “and I adore him for it.”

“Does that mean he’s the “girl” in this relationship?” Dun asks with a smug grin. Lu Bu shakes his head, surprising the two. “How the hell does that work? He’s a foot shorter than you and you could easily break him over your knee if you wanted to.”

“What can I say Dun?” Cao chuckles as he peeks around Lu Bu. “I like a challenge.”

Dun sighs heavily and walks out of the room. “That’s it. I’m done with you two for the night.”

“Get back here.” Liao laughs as he pursues Dun. “Are you really going to be like this?”

“After that comment, I’m not dealing with them any more tonight.”

“Just tonight?”

“We have to deal with them the rest of the weekend, don’t we?”

“Good point.”

Lu Bu and Cao Cao simply chuckle as the taller of the two turns to embrace the other. “Are you sure about this, Cao?” Lu Bu asks.

“Yeah,” Cao sighs as he looks up at Lu Bu “it’s time I stop hiding behind lies for once in my life. I’ll be on my own soon anyway, so I have to start making changes somewhere.”

Lu Bu smiles and pecks Cao between the eyes. “There’s the Cao Cao I loved from middle school.”

“Get your mushy stuff done and get out here, you two.” Dun calls out from the living room. “Or I’ll personally drag both of you out here.”

“Let’s not keep them waiting.” Cao chuckles then leads Lu Bu out of the room, eager to spend this weekend of freedom with the new light of his life.


End file.
